Escape
by FembotAxel
Summary: Rinoa is in an abusive relationship with someone she once thought was the man of her dreams. Squall is her new English teacher who wants nothing but to help her. Will he be able to stop her boyfriend, or will he fail and lose Rinoa forever.


**Escape**

_Midnights Heart_

_-_

_-_

Rinoa hit the ground for the second time. Her body shook as more tears began to flood her eyes. She deserved this, right? It was her fault… Otherwise he wouldn't do this to her. Her mind kept wondering, constantly blaming herself. Another hit, this time with his most prized possession; his gun blade. Her body lay still as he circled her, his anger and stress finally gone. A smirk played upon his face as he ran a gloved hand through his golden locks.

"I'm sorry…" He spoke, his lips quivering. Nothing could take back what he had done now. Nothing could make her stay with him, but she did. She always did. Her arms were shaking as they tried to support her body as she lifted herself off the floor.

"I… I hate you…" Her voice was barely audible, but he heard. What he did was wrong, and he knew it. But when times got hard, this was the only way.

_-_

Squall closed his eyes in frustration as the alarm went off for the third time that morning._ Why did I have to accept this job offer? I'm going to be miserable._ He finally turned it off and got out of his bed; walking groggily to the bathroom. As he wiped the sleep out of his eyes he started the water, running his toothbrush under it. _I haven't been in a high school for five years… I don't know if I can put up with a couple hundred teenagers. And the girls, oh God. _Even if he hadn't worked at a high school before, he had heard the rumors about the young girls flirting and taking advantage of young male teachers. _And my scar. I can't wait to hear about that._ His eyes wondered to the obvious wound between his eyes. Flashes of the motorcycle accident invaded his thoughts as he finished brushing his teeth. _No, I can't let that bother me today. Pull it together, Squall._ He got dressed quickly and grabbed his cell phone, rolling his eyes as it started to ring.

"Hello?"

"_Hey, Squall. It's Quistis, I just wanted to make sure you were up."_

"I am."

"_Oh, well okay. I guess I'll see you there. If you need any help--"_

"You're right down the hall, I got it Quistis. See ya."

"_Bye"_

He put the phone in his pocket and grabbed his keys. It was going to be a long day, but he needed the work and the money. He jumped on the seat of his motorcycle and rode off to the school.

-

Sacrifice. She had sacrificed so much while dating him, so why go back? Why leave him and go back to nothing? Her deep cocoa eyes stared back at her in the mirror. They could see the bruise that she had covered up with make-up from last nights fight. They could see the cut he gave her on her back as she lay on the ground sobbing not twelve hours ago. But she took a deep breath and dried her long brown hair, smiling as the heat of the blow drier warmed her skin. Today was just another day of school. Another day she could spend with her friends, another day of Seifer being the guy she once fell in love with. Only at school did she ever feel safe with him. She knew he would do a thing to her while they were there; or his position as leader of the disciplinary committee would expire. _I wonder who they got to be the new English teacher? Hopefully someone nice, unlike the last one we had. _Her troubles disappeared as Seifer took her hand as the made their way to his car. It was going to be a good day.

"I did it again, Rinoa. I'm sorry." Seifer turned to her as he spoke, focusing on the road at the same time. "You know how I get sometimes."

"Yeah." She nodded, slowly turning to look out the window. It was halfway through the school year and nothing exciting had happened yet; she was waiting for something to come and change her life so she wouldn't have to be living such a miserable life with a man she thought she loved. Seifer was good to her on an average day, but when things started to changed, he would change. Rinoa understood that she was in a risky situation, but what could she do? Leave him and suffer the consequences? She could hardly imagine the things he would do if she left him.

They got out of the car and walked to their homeroom, which they both had together. Rinoa sat near an open window and smiled as she wrote in her notebook as she did everyday in homeroom; mostly just about life, it was like her diary. She kissed Seifer on the cheek as they parted for first period, her mind wondering about the new teacher. _Please say she's fair… I don't need another teacher that's going to fail me because of the way I dress or something stupid like that. _She moved a strand of hair behind her ear and walked inside the classroom, a little uneasy about being the first one there.

-

Squall turned around as he heard someone walk in. He nodded at her and continued with his work. Rinoa took a seat closest to the window as she did in all her classes and tried her best not to stare at his scar. Her mind kept wondering about it. _I wonder what happened to him. He's probably some psycho serial killer. _She scrutinized him a little before rethinking. _Nah, he's too young and… Cute to be like that. Wait, did I just say my teacher was cute? No, he can't be the teacher, he's way too young. _Finally she stopped thinking about it as the room filled up, the other girls in the class whispering to each other about the new teacher.

Squall got up and cleared his throat, waiting for everyone to calm down. A group of girls just kept talking, much to his annoyance. Finally he hit one of their desks with a book and began to speak as they sat back and listened.

"Hello class, I guess you're curious as to who I am since the girls in the back row just can't shut up about me." He gave the caramel haired teen a dirty look as he continued. "My name is Mr. Leonhart, I went here when I was your age and yeah. What would you like to know about me, Ms. Tilmitt?" Squall glanced at the picture Ids he had of all his students to make sure he got her name right.

"Huh?" Selphie stopped talking to her friends about how cute he was and looked up at the teacher. Her heart started beating extremely fast as everyone turned to look at her. "Um, uh. I don't know, geez." Her friends encouraged her to ask his age and relationship status, so she did. "How old are you?"

"23. Next question." He smiled at a few kids who were enjoying the presentation.

"Are you single?" Her eyes sparkled with curiosity at what his answer would be.

"Yes, I am. But I don't go for the high school level girls." He leaned against the wall and crossed his arms on his chest. "Would anyone like to know anything else?" He stormy grey eyes surveyed the room before he pushed off the wall and started speaking once again.

"So, I heard you all had been working on a project, what was it about… Mr. Kinneas?" He looked for the boy, finally finding him as he answered.

"We read The Canterbury Tales, and now we have to do a big final project on it. Mrs. Kramer was letting us work on it in class until this Friday, then we we're going to present them on Monday." Irvine smirked at Selphie, trying to get her attention, but she was too focused on Squall to even care.

"Thank you, Mr. Kinneas. Well, you all seem to know what you're doing, so get to it. If you need any help, just let me know." He scanned the room before sitting down, a set of brown eyes catching him for a moment. He smiled a little before looking down at the paper in front of him with the picture Ids, finding her. Rinoa Heartilly. She was pretty, but off limits.

-

Rinoa tried her best to hide the embarrassed blush that was playing upon her cheeks. _Oh, wow. He has amazing eyes. But aren't Seifer's just as good? No, they aren't Especially when they're full of rage._ No matter how hard she tried she couldn't find anything good about Seifer anymore. She was losing interest in him more and more as the day passed. It was as if that second she spent looking into her teacher's eyes changed her whole perspective about the one she thought she loved.

Class ended finally and she went on to her other classes, finally meeting up with Seifer and her friends at lunch. She smiled as she looked at everyone, Selphie, Irvine, and Zell sat with them. And she couldn't forget Raijin and Fujin, the only other members of the disciplinary committee. Though Zell was a student teacher, he often hung out with the group everyday at lunch and during the class he was teaching; gym.

"So, how do you all like squall? Good or bad?" Zell asked, taking a bite of his favorite food, hot dogs.

"Who?" Selphie asked, her head cocked a little to the right in curiosity.

"Your new English teacher, Mr. Leonhart. He's a good friend of mine, his first name is Squall, sorry about that, heh."

"Oh, that chickenwuss? He got on my nerves today, he thought he was a hot shot because all the stupid chicks kept talking about him during class." Seifer rolled his eyes at the thought.

"Oh, no. He was worried the girls would do that. You got him all wrong, Seifer. He just wants to do his job, he doesn't like the girls acting like that." Zell stated, shoving some French fries in his mouth. Rinoa looked up at Seifer as he started talking again.

"Yeah, well all the girls love that stupid scar on his big head. They think it's so mysterious. How stupid are some of these people? Geez."

Zell shook his head and looked up at Irvine, who was wanting to say something.

"Don't you have like, the same scar as him, Seif?" Irvine stared a little, trying to compare his to Squall's. Everyone nodded and agreed, pissing Seifer off a little.

"The hell? Are you trying to say something?" He thought back to the motorcycle accident he had only six months ago and frowned. "Yo, Zell? How did he get that scar?"

"Motorcycle accident. He was racing with some kids or something."

"Shit. He was the one who went under with me. He was the guy I was racing when I got in my accident. Fuck, man. He went through what I went through."

"Well, then, Seifer. Maybe you need to give him a little more respect. What you went through was pretty nasty, and you always say nobody understands. Well, he does."

Seifer took in what Zell said for a moment before getting up quickly, his eyes squinted a little. "No way. It was his fault, if he hadn't of challenged us that night I wouldn't have this stupid scar! It was his fucking fault I'm like this. He doesn't deserve any respect, especially from me." He took Rinoa's hand and pulled her behind him. "Come on, Rinoa!"

"Ow… Where are we going?" Rinoa looked back at Selphie with worried eyes as he dragged her roughly out of the cafeteria. _Oh, God. What's he going to do? Hopefully nothing to Squall. Or me… Why is he like this? _She thought back to when he got in his accident and remembered what the doctor had said. _"He'll have a permanent scar and some brain damage. He'll probably need to take some anger management classes if he becomes out of control. It's rare, but it can happen, so be careful miss." _

"Fuck!" Seifer took his hand away from the door knob and clenched his fists. "It's locked! I need to talk to him, damn it!" Rinoa looked around, realizing that no one was around. _At school I'm safe… He would never do anything here. Right?_

"Calm down, baby. He'll be here eventually. You can wait a little, right?" she ran her hand up and down his arm, trying to keep him calm. He shook his head and sat down against some lockers.

"Man, Rinoa. I never thought I'd meet him again. I didn't even know what he looked like, we all had helmets on." She sat beside him and sighed, holding his hand as he spoke. "It just pisses me off to know he's here."

"Why? He got the same thing you got. And you were the one that accepted the challenge." Rinoa's eyes widened as he tightened his grip on her hand. "I mean… Ah.. Seifer, stop…" She bit her lip as he squeezed harder, then lifted her up and threw her against the door.

"Are you trying to blame me for what happened?"

"No… Please…" She gasped as he pushed her against the hard wood door again, her wound from the previous night throbbing on her back. "Seifer…:

-

Squall heard something at his door and got up, it was a couple. He looked out of the window on the door and saw Seifer, and brown hair against the glass. He knocked on the window, startling the blonde, and making the girl turn around quickly. Squall opened the door and shook his head as Seifer ran off.

"Are you ok, Ms. Heartilly?" She nodded slowly, trying her best to cover up the pain on her back.

"Yes, I'm fine. Sorry about that." She bent over in front of him and picked up her bag, the scar now visible as her shirt rode up her back. "He realized you were the person his raced with a few months ago. Y'know… You both have the same scar from the same accident."

"Oh, I see." Squall put his glasses on as he looked down at a paper in his hand, one he had been reading earlier. "I heard in his doctor's report that it caused brain damage, unlike mine. Was that one of his outbursts, Rinoa?"

"No.. he hasn't had any. They said it was rare." She took a deep breath and turned to leave. "I'll see you tomorrow, Mr. Leonhart. Have a nice evening."

"Wait, Rinoa. I need to see you for a minute. It's about the scar on your back. Did he do that?" She stopped in her tracks as the words let her teacher's mouth. "Honestly, Ms. Heartilly."

"No. And even if he did I wouldn't get him in any trouble. You best keep out of other people's business Mr. Leonhart. It'll cause problems." She swallowed hard, he voice trickling with annoyance. _How dare he jump to conclusions. He doesn't know me… He doesn't know anything about me. Ugh… That's so annoying!_ The bell rang, signaling the end of lunch. She quickly made her way to her next class, finding herself in front of room 216. Her heart started beating faster as she opened the door, waking in slowly.

"Hello again, Ms. Heartilly. I'm glad you could make it to Creative Writing English class, another one of **my** classes. I must be lucky to have you twice a day." The man in front of her said, with a smirk gracing his features. She shook her head, laughter playing on her rose colored lips.

"You're something, Mr. Leonhart. I'm almost ready to call you crazy." Squall patted her on the back, glad to know there were no hard feelings. He didn't know her very well at all, but he could tell she was a sweet girl in a bad situation. And he wanted to help her.

-

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**Author Notes / **Okay, so I finally wrote a story for FFVIII which I have been wanting to do forever. And for once, it's not yaoi. I've got a pretty good plot for this one, so I hope you all will stay up to date and give me yummy awesome reviews, haha. Eh.. Please? If you're waiting for me to update my other story, Always and Forever, don't worry. I will soon enough. Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed it. Please Review! And I will give you replies on your reviews.

: : hands out free squall plushies : :

**Midnights Heart**


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